I managed to get a hold of a copy of the 1984 Mr. Olympia Contest. This will be a review based on what I can make of the tape, which is very old and grainy. This review will not be as detailed as some of the other reviews available on the bodybuilding contest reports section, but I will try my best with what I have!

First up was Sergio Oliva, who returned to the stage at age 43. He was still holding an enormous amount of size! He looked as big as many pros today in some ways. His waist was also still small. His front double biceps pose was sick! He posed to the Superman music - he hit a twisting back shot and once again looked huge. He did some seldom seen kneeling poses too. His triceps were striated and huge and his chest was round and full. He was even able to do a bit of a vacuum. Something not seen much these days either. His most muscular was also ridiculous. Talk about a good showing for a 43 year old. The crowd went nuts after his routine was over.

Samir Bannout was up next. He looked very good but I wouldn't say as good as he looked the previous year, although his back still looked amazing. He had striated triceps and good abs and serratus. He hit some twisting back poses and looked great in them. His rear lat spread and back double biceps poses were very impressive - this kind of conditioning could go up with that of almost any pro today. He had a classic look, but was a big off from his 1983 form.

Bill Grant was up next. He had a great physique and one which I would gladly take myself. The same can be said for a lot of these guys (a bunch of classical physiques were on stage that day - almost all of them. He posed to the song "I am what I am" by Gloria Gaynor. His back was extremely detailed and his posing was well paced and entertaining. His legs in general could have stood to be a bit larger for his upper body, but otherwise, he looked great. His lats from the front weren't as pronounced as some of the other competitors, but his most muscular was tight and featured a very shredded chest.

Bob Birdsong then posed to the song "Who you Gonna Call? Ghostbusters." The crowd really loved it and Bob looked happy to be up there posing to the music. He really got the crowd moving and clapping - as the song was definitely a hit in 1984. His quads were definitely cut and tight. His back was detailed and his striated triceps displayed themselves well in his back double biceps pose. His glutes even looked fairly lean, which was pretty rare in the 1980s, since it wasn't until the 1990s where bodybuilders like Ronnie Coleman mad striated glutes a requirement. Like I said, Bob looked very happy to be up on stage posing.

The Golden Eagle Tom Platz posed next. He posed to the song "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye. He posed well and had the usual Platz physique - legs which were huge, maybe even too much so for his upper body development. Don't get me wrong, he was huge all over, but just moreso in his legs. Interestingly, Bertil Fox had posed to the same song in the previous year's Mr. Olympia Contest. Platz's chest was looking great as usual, and his arms had a good peak as well as prominent vascularity. Tom's abs were also tight. Once again, like so many other bodybuilders of the day, he hit unique poses rarely seen today. He highlighted his huge, cross striated quads in any pose he could, and overall displayed a fantastic physique.

Now our senior citizen Albert Beckles posed (and he was announced that way too LOL!). Yet on the stage he was still dancing like a teenager in his pose. Just incredible...How a 54 year old man could look so FANTASTIC was just amazing. And to think he kept competing in the Mr. Olympia contests until the age of 61! He was big and shredded as always, and this was a man who was young in every possible way. You could see it in his body, you could see it in the energy he displayed in his pose, and you could see it in his smile! He posed to the song "Just an Illusion" by Najee. Wow...I was probably more impressed with him than any other on the stage. This was back in the day when bodybuilding was all about longevity.

Robby Robinson then posed. He looked very good.

Next Bob Paris was up - 23 years old! Wow, I wish I looked like that. I think many guys who first walk into the gym want to look like Bob did the day of this contest. This man had an amazing body. Both for bodybuilding and for everyday life. He was full and cut with near perfect proportions. This man was an Adonis. His biceps in particular were just incredible - or I should say his overall arms development, including triceps and forearms. Bob also hit many poses rarely seen day - classic poses which highlighted his classic physique. This is the kind of body that could sell bodybuilding. He looked great, no questions about that.

Next Chris Dickerson was up - at 45 years old, he looked good, but not good enough to win the show as he had previously in 1982. He was a slow and fluid poser and used the pose to highlight his physique to his advantage. His age showed somewhat on his chest, as would be expected. He posed to the song "You Are the Sun, You Are the Rain" by Lionel Richie. He was in good shape, but didn't have the mass to compete against the others that day. His biceps in particular were too small to do damage at the best bodybuilding show in the world. Chris was an entertaining poser, and at one point did the moon walk. He put a lot of energy into his pose and was another guy who most certainly was more comparable to a teenager in this regard. Bodybuilding definitely helped this man to prolong his youth.

Tony Pearson posed next - he posed to Billy Jean by Michael Jackson. He had an INCREDIBLE vacuum - even good by the standards set in the 1980s! When he hit his abs and thighs pose he would alternate between hitting a vacuum and hitting the shot with his abs flexed! It looked amazing. One minute he had a complete vacuum and all of a sudden his cut six pack popped out. Any pose he hit from the rear looked amazing, especially the rear lat spread. His most muscular detailed his striated triceps, shredded chest and cut shoulders. His biceps had a great peak and his waist was tight and his legs were vascular - he really looked great!

Appie Steenbeek then posed. He placed last in the show. He didn't look horrible or anything, but the level of competition was just too deep for him to place any higher than he did. You might say he looked perfectly fine, but the others had him beat. It was as simple as that. I don't think he missed his peak or anything, he just couldn't compare to the quality the others displayed.

Hubert Metz then posed - He had another physique for everyday life. Not ridiculously big, but muscular and cut. His biceps were particularly conditioned and he was able to hit a bit of a vacuum in some of his poses. It's incredible how "ordinary" some of the bodybuilders in the show were - at least compared to the majority of competitors today.

Jusup Wilkosz then went up - he looked as great as always! Thick and dense and just STRONG looking. As usual, his beard added to his ruggedness. I was amazed when he had mentioned in the 1983 Mr. Olympia tape that he trained five hours a day, but it showed. Jusup posed slowly and was able to highlight his great physique.

Former Mr. Canada Roy Callendar then posed - he was pretty thick in comparison with some of the competition. He posed to some slow music as well and had some very good transitional poses. While his chest was striated it seemed to lack thickness to balance with the rest of him. But he did look good, regardless. His waist was also fairly tight.

At this point we were down to the final five competitors. Boyer Coe was the first to pose of the remaining five. He had peaked biceps and a fairly tight waist. He posed to (I believe) Vanessa Amorosi - True To Yourself.

Lee Haney came up next - clear winner. He was HUGE - thick and full all over with a wasp waist and huge flaring lats from the front. His biceps were small relative to the rest of him, but his front double biceps pose was still the best in the show. Any pose he hit from the back was amazing. One has to wonder what Lee would have looked like if he was competing today. Lee posed to two songs, the first I have no idea what it was, and the second was the same song Ronnie Coleman posed to at the 2003 and 2004 Mr. Olympia contests - the Oprah song, not sure the name. Lee hit some most muscular poses during this portion of his routine, which put his smallish (relatively speaking) arms on display, but he looked good all over, no doubt about it.

Mohamed Makkawy posed next. He looked very good. Great poser - slow and fluid. Just a classic physique as always - no standout body parts.

Charles Glass (Trainer of Champions) posed next. He did a back flip on stage! Talk about athletic. This was one guy who definitely wasn't musclebound. He put a lot of energy into his pose - and did ANOTHER back flip! LOL...then he added some gymnastics moves into the pose - just...wow! His arms looked great, and his legs were in great condition, as was his chest.

James Gaubert posed next to the song "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra. His posing was very good, but didn't have the mass or balance to do damage at the show. Even posing second last didn't take advantage of the recency effect and cause the judges to place him any higher than second last. Ah well...His most muscular was fairly thick though.

Next the entire competition lined up in a comparison - the pros were looking sharp. Bob Paris and Sergio Oliva looked very thick, as did Lee Haney and others. Keep in mind that Lee Haney was just short of his 25th birthday at the time of the show. His size and thickness was crazy when you consider that.

Lou Ferrigno went up to say a few words next. He talked about how the prize money went up and how he might compete in the Mr. Olympia contest the next year if time allowed.

Lou's speech was followed up by one from Franco Columbu. After a brief speech, Franco took his jacket off and two biceps poses (both arms individually), and followed that up with a rear lat spread.

Wayne Demilia then announced the top 10. The top 10 lined up and checks were given to places 7-10. There was a lot of booing during this portion of the show. When Sergio Oliva was announced in eighth place, he brought his baby son to the stage and said that even if he loses one, he always wins. He called his son the next Myth, and Ben Weider had announced his son as the next Mr. Olympia. Sergio was very gracious with his placing. Bob Paris was announced seventh place which rounded out the placings outside the top 10.

Next, the mandatory poses were called for the top six:

Front Double Biceps.

Front Lat Spread.

Side Chest.

Rear Lat Spread.

Side Triceps.

Overhead Abdominals.

Posedown.

Samir was announced in sixth place - the crowd didn't like this. Roy Callendar was fifth, with Albert Beckles in fourth.

Lee Haney won - and very deservingly so. This was the beginning of what turned out to be an eight year reign for Lee, to go down in the history books as the winningnest Mr. Olympia thus far (as of July 2005).

Gaspari took Sports Nutrition to the highest level with SizeOn, the original intra-workout creatine drink. As clinical research advances, so does Gaspari Nutrition which is why SizeOn has now evolved into the Ultimate Hybrid Intra-Workout Whey Hydrolysate Creatine Formula. BUY IT NOW